UPCOMING EVENTS

One of the busiest shopping days of the year, Black Friday, is off to a positive start for retailers, according to data released by Adobe. The technology company is forecasting that online spending will hit $3 billion, up 11%, surpassing the $3 billion for the first time.

The company says that early data shows that consumers have already spent $490 million so far and similar to previous years, mobile shopping is also off to strong start as more consumers are purchasing items via their smartphones. Adobe is predicting that this year’s Black Friday will be the first day in retail history to exceed $1 billion in mobile revenue. So far, 40% of sales are being made via mobile phones.

Thanksgiving Day online sales were projected to hit $2 billion, but came in slightly under at $1.93 billion, up 11.5% from previous years. Adobe said that this was due to higher traffic earlier in the day thanks to discounts released in the morning as well as increased shopping in the days before Thanksgiving. E-commerce spending came in at $1.6 billion on Wednesday, up nearly 20% from last year.

But Thanksgiving also brought record spending on mobile phones, with an estimated $771 million in sales made from smartphones or tablets. Black Friday appears to be on track for record mobile sales as well.

All signs point to a healthier holiday for online retailers as a result of increased spending on mobile phones. For example, e-commerce giant Amazon is already reporting record levels of shopping this Black Friday.

Forrester estimated that consumers will spend a record-breaking $112 billion online in November and December, a jump of 13% from the $99 billion spent in the same period in 2015.